It’s time to warm up to power-plant lakes

Texas is an angler-friendly state, but some waters offer particularly warm welcomes to winter catfish fishermen.

These are the power-plant lakes, constant-level lakes that produce heated water as a byproduct of electrical power generation. There are four of these “hot-water ponds” in the Central Texas area, two of them in southern Bexar County.

While both of the local lakes are easily identified and located on the horizon by their exhaust stacks, Braunig Lake is the most easily accessed from its entrance off Interstate 37.

Braunig Lake is 1,350 acres with depths to 50 feet. A stone’s throw away is Calaveras Lake, with its entrance off Loop 1604 east of U.S. Highway 181. Calaveras covers about 3,625 surface acres to a depth of 45 feet.

They are constant-level lakes of medium depth, relying on water pumped from the San Antonio River rather than inflow from a watershed. Water in both lakes stays warm year-round, with surface temperatures reaching the high 90s in the summer.

In addition to easy access and reliable water levels, the lakes hold a lot of fishing opportunities, including those for shoreline anglers. Redfish, black bass and hybrid striped bass by the hundreds of thousands have been stocked in the lakes by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

The same good chances for fishing success are in store for catfish fishermen. The number of blue catfish and channel catfish in each lake is substantial and the trend is for continuing improvement, said TP&W inland fisheries biologist Randy Myers.

Historically, Myers said, Calaveras has had a lot of small catfish while Braunig’s catfish were increasing in size, if not abundance. But that is changing.

In 2008, channel catfish in Calaveras outnumbered the Braunig count by 2-1.

The mix of channel and blue catfish is changing at Calaveras. TP&W sets nets to collect fish samples in the lakes and records data, including the catch rates by species. The Calaveras catch rate for blue catfish in 2007 was about three fish per net. In 2008, the catch jumped to eight fish per net, Myers said, and in 2010 it hit 9.2.

“We’ll set it again this year and maybe (the blue catfish) has topped out or maybe it’s still growing,” Myers said.

During the same period, the Calaveras catch rate on channel catfish dropped from 30-plus fish per net into the 20s, he said.

In 2007, blues were about 10 percent of the Calaveras catfish population. In 2010, the mix had changed to about 35 percent blues, with a 17-inch fish being the average. Myers’ field staff will be running nets at Braunig this month to check the trends in that lake.

The biological focus is on population trends, Myers said, and not on the cause of the shift in catfish populations.

Usually, blue catfish fare better in lakes fed by large rivers. In some West Texas lakes that are similar to Calaveras, the blue catfish are making increases, too.

“Calaveras water temperatures are increasing due to the new generating plant,” Myers said. “Maybe that has something to do with it.”

What Myers’ data shows for sure: “We’re building blues (at Calaveras). That’s a pretty good thing.”

Getting a non-professional sampling of the winter catfish populations recently at Calaveras were businessmen Mark Roberts of Schertz and Lewis Borgfeld of Cibolo. They were fishing with guide Steve Nixon.

Nixon’s Simrad fish-finder was tracking fish as soon as we left the ramp. Moving to a grassy shoreline marked by scattered trees, Nixon kept his eye on the Simrad. He was looking for a “hole,” or what he calls a drop-off where the water depth goes from 8 feet on a steep slope to 16 feet.

“The catfish will be in the deeper water,” Nixon said. “That’s where I find them in the winter. This hole is next to an old tank dam.”

Nixon anchored on the dam and had Borgfeld and Roberts fishing with Shimano/Falcon spinning tackle. The No. 6 treble hook was loaded with Big Marv’s Cheese Bait, a stinky concoction that held together well enough to handle a long cast.

As witnessed by the fish finder, the fish were down there, but they were slow to bite.

Nixon has been guiding on Calaveras and Canyon lakes for more than five years but has been fishing these waters for more than 20.

“There has always been a lot of catfish (in Calaveras), but blues used to be scarce,” he said, echoing what TPWD data has shown.

“Always plenty of fish, but they are smaller.”

While size does matter in fishing, it’s also relative.

Our box finished with 10 fish, a mix of channels and blues from 2 pounds to about 4 pounds — taking home enough for a friendly family fish fry and leaving more than enough to target on a return visit.